Nashville, Tenn. ? The Tennessee Titans are off to a running start this preseason. The St. Louis Rams see no reason to take any chances with their rushing offense.

Undrafted rookie John Simon scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter as the Titans edged the defending NFC champion Rams 28-26 Saturday night in the preseason opener for both teams. The Titans, who lost the 2000 Super Bowl to St. Louis, have beaten the Rams in six consecutive exhibitions.

Chicago's Reggie Austin grabs the facemask of Denver running back Clinton Portis. Denver won Saturday's exhibition game in Champaign, Ill., 27-3.

With 54 seconds left, Tennessee stopped Lamar Gordon from the 1 on a second attempt at a two-point conversion after a penalty. The Rams recovered the onside kick but turned the ball over on downs with 13 seconds remaining.

The Titans are trying to rebound from last season’s 7-9 record, so coach Jeff Fisher was happy with the result.

“It’s important to win in the preseason, and we did that,” he said.

St. Louis played it safe by keeping leading rusher Marshall Faulk off the field. Kurt Warner came in for only one series and tossed just one pass. Still, he left with the Rams leading 10-0 in the first quarter.

“It is hard when you know that you are not going to play much,” Warner said. “You don’t really get into a rhythm, and that part is really tough.”

The Titans knew they wouldn’t see much of Warner.

“It’s kind of what we expected,” Titans cornerback Andre Dyson said. “It’s the first game, and he’s a proven player, so he doesn’t have to prove anything now.”

The Titans helped St. Louis to its early lead as Steve McNair fumbled on their first play from scrimmage. Former Kansas University linebacker Don Davis picked up the loose ball and ran 23 yards for a 7-0 lead.

Eagles 20, Packers 13

Philadelphia (ap) Tim Hasselbeck was 5-of-6 for 66 yards and one touchdown, leading the Eagles over the Packers .

Dorsey Levens had an impressive debut for the Eagles against his former team, Rod Smart who wore “He Hate Me” on the back of his jersey in the defunct XFL caught a 31-yard TD pass and Pro Bowl kicker David Akers picked up where he left off, converting both of his field-goal attempts.

Favre led the Packers on one touchdown drive, finishing 6-of-10 for 52 yards and one interception. McNabb was 5-of-5 for only 15 yards.

Browns 27, Vikings 15

Minneapolis Cleveland’s offense worked well against the Minnesota Vikings, but the Browns’ defense suffered a major blow with the loss of Pro Bowl linebacker Jamir Miller to a torn right Achilles’ tendon.

Tim Couch and Kelly Holcomb combined to go 14-of-19 for 238 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cleveland to a 27-15 victory against the revamped Vikings on Saturday night.

There was no immediate word on how long Miller would be sidelined. He landed awkwardly after being blocked into Brant Boyer.

Giants 22, Patriots 19

East Rutherford, N.J. Antonio Warren scored on a 30-yard run and a two-point conversion with 4:22 to play to give the New York Giants a victory.

Kerry Collins added a 34-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer, and Ron Dayne scored on a 1-yard run as the Giants (2-0) won for the second time this week. New York beat Houston 34-17 in the Hall of Fame game Monday night. Adam Vinatieri kicked field goals of 26, 50, 36 and 38 yards and backup quarterback Damon Huard threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Donald Hayes.

Broncos 27, Bears 3

Champaign, Ill. Chicago Bears coach Dick Jauron thought his starters played well enough against the Denver Broncos, even if it was only for a couple of series.

“Our first team was pretty good, and it went downhill after that,” Jauron said.

Way downhill.

The Denver Broncos held Chicago to just 44 total yards in a 27-3 victory Saturday night the Bears’ first home game in Champaign this season while Soldier Field is being renovated.

In truth, Chicago’s starters didn’t play all that well. The Bears had minus-9 yards of offense in the first half and just one first down, though the defense did force one turnover and three punts on Denver’s first four possessions.

The Broncos sacked Chicago five times for a loss of 46 yards two of which resulted in fumbles that were recovered by Denver deep in Bears territory.

Denver converted both of those into Jason Elam field goals, and added a first-half touchdown when backup quarterback Steve Beuerlein found tight end Dwayne Carswell for a 5-yard score.

“I thought we made some plays on both sides of the football, but at the same time it still looked a little bit like the first preseason game,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.

During the first touchdown drive, rookie Clinton Portis ran five times for 21 yards. The second-round draft pick out of Miami finished with 57 yards rushing.

Broncos quarterback Brian Griese was 7-of-9 passing for 48 yards, and Beuerlein finished 9-of-12 for 78 yards and a touchdown. Chicago quarterback Henry Burris went 6-of-19 for 49 yards and was intercepted twice. Burris was also sacked three times, and both interceptions were thrown directly at Broncos defenders.

Texans 13, Saints 10

New Orleans It only took two games for the NFL’s newest team to come up with a victory.

The Houston Texans won for the first time, beating the New Orleans Saints 13-10 on Saturday night.

Kris Brown scored the winning points, hitting a 27-yard field goal midway through the third quarter. David Carr, the former Fresno State quarterback drafted first overall, was 9-of-14 for 95 yards as Houston’s starters played the entire first half. He was sacked once and pressured frequently by the Saints’ first-team defense.

Wells scored on a 1-yard run early in the third quarter to give the Texans a 10-7 lead. Houston got the ball on the 1 after a pass-interference call.

Wells, a fourth-round draft pick from Ohio State, had 41 yards on three carries in the scoring drive, and finished with 50 yards on 10 attempts. He had only 19 yards on seven carries in Houston’s loss to the New York Giants on Monday night in Canton, Ohio.

Redskins 37, Panthers 30

Charlotte, N.C. Steve Spurrier and his former college quarterbacks appear to be a perfect match.

Shane Matthews gave Washington an early lead, then Danny Wuerffel rallied the Redskins to a 37-30 victory to ruin the head coaching debut of John Fox.

Randy Fasani, a rookie from Stanford, ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as the Panthers, 1-15 a season ago, rallied from a 13-point deficit to take a 30-23 lead with 4:37 left.

Matthews, a former QB with the Panthers, didn’t play in a 38-7 win over San Francisco in Japan as Wuerffel and Sage Rosenfels combined for 441 yards and five TDs. But he finished 17-for-27 with two touchdowns against Carolina.